S. Blessing

The High Energy Physics group at Florida State University (FSU), which was established in 1958, is engaged in the study of the fundamental constituents of matter and the laws by which they interact. The group comprises theoretical and experimental physicists, who sometimes collaborate on projects of mutual interest. The report highlights the main recent achievements of the group. Significant, recent, achievements of the group’s theoretical physicists include progress in making precise predictions in the theory of the Higgs boson and its associated processes, and in the theoretical understanding of mathematical quantities called parton distribution functions that are related to the structure of composite particles such as the proton. These functions are needed to compare data from particle collisions, such as the proton-proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), with theoretical predictions. The report also describes the progress in providing analogous functions for heavy nuclei, which find application in neutrino physics. The report highlights progress in understanding quantum field theory on a lattice of points in space and time (an area of study called lattice field theory), the progress in constructing several theories of potential new physics that can be tested at the LHC, and interesting new ideas inmore » the theory of the inflationary expansion of the very early universe. The focus of the experimental physicists is the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at CERN. The report, however, also includes results from the D0 experiment at Fermilab to which the group made numerous contributions over a period of many years. The experimental group is particularly interested in looking for new physics at the LHC that may provide the necessary insight to extend the standard model (SM) of particle physics. Indeed, the search for new physics is the primary task of contemporary particle physics, one motivated by the need to explain certain facts, such as the non-zero neutrino masses or the overwhelming astrophysical evidence for an invisible form of matter, called dark matter, that has had a marked effect on the evolution of structure in the universe. The report highlights the main, recent, experimental achievements of the experimental group, which include the investigation of properties of the W and Z bosons; the search for new heavy stable charged particles and the search for a proposed property of nature called supersymmetry in proton-proton collisions that yield high energy photons. In addition, we report a few results from a more general search for supersymmetry at the LHC, initiated by the group. The report also highlights the group's significant contributions, both theoretical and experimental, to the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson and the measurement of its properties.« less